Miscues raise troubling questions for Sara Lee

The consumer products company  for years considered one of the most civic-minded and enlightened corporate giants  lately has lost credibility through a series of embarrassing missteps. These incidents are not mere business mistakes that drain profits and zap investors. They involve matters of public safety and fairness that should never even become issues at any company  especially not one that prides itself on civic involvement and concern for the public good.

The problems started more than three years ago, when listeria-tainted deli products produced at a meat plant in Michigan resulted in the deaths of 15 people and the illness of 80 others. Another problem came this summer, when Sara Lee recalled 13,600 pounds of packaged lunch meats because of possible salmonella contamination. Fortunately, no one was sickened, but the recall raised the question of whether the company has solved sanitary issues at its meat plants.

Still another embarrassment: Sara Lee is the target of some 140 racial discrimination lawsuits filed by African-American workers at a hot dog plant in Philadelphia (Crain's, Aug. 27). The allegations stand in contrast to Sara Lee's track record  Chairman John Bryan has a reputation as a progressive on race issues, and Sara Lee's board has prominent African-American directors, Vernon E. Jordan Jr. and Willie D. Davis. Sara Lee denies the lawsuits' allegations; still, the scope of the complaints is troubling.

Sara Lee has been under pressure for years as it looks for ways to jump-start its slow-growing, mature consumer products businesses. The question is whether this recent string of troubles is simply a coincidence, or whether pressures to maximize profits  while seeking a new strategic direction  caused Mr. Bryan, his successor, C. Steven McMillan, and other top executives to take their eyes off crucial operations on the shop floors.

Sara Lee was once perceived as a company above the fray. Maybe that perception is impossible for any large company to maintain nowadays. But investors aren't likely be attracted to the stock of a corporation whose management appears to have taken its hands off the wheel.